With the identification of the infected Omicron Covid strain from Spain, the number of new strains has increased to 18 countries.

There were also reports from Germany of a person who had no foreign contact being infected with the omicron variant.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the new covid variant of omicron, which first came to the world’s attention last weekend, will pose a serious global threat.

The organization’s forecasts indicate that it could have a devastating effect on some parts of the world.

Tedros Adenam, the organisation’s head of state, also stressed the need to increase vaccination in poorer countries, including Africa.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently announced that he would supply African countries with an additional stockpile of one billion Chinese-made anti-Kovid vaccines.

He said China hopes to support the goal of giving at least one dose of the vaccine to 60 per cent of the population in Africa by 2022.

 China is preparing to provide 600 million doses of the vaccine free of charge and the remaining 400 million doses under a manufacturing process.

China also plans to launch 10 medical and healthcare projects targeting Africa and send a 1,500-strong Chinese medical team to it.

Against this background, the number of Omicron infections identified in Canada in the North American region has risen to three.

 Commenting on the regional risks, US President Joe Biden said that although the new variant should be considered seriously, it should not be alarmed.

The President said that although travel bans have already been imposed on South Africa and several other African countries, the new variant cannot be prevented from entering his country.